The Middle
by LadeeBear
Summary: Follow-up to 1x21 "Sonny: So Far." Spoilers contained inside, so don't read if you don't want to be spoiled! Sonny/Chad one-shot.


**I am practically on cloud nine right now. Why, you may ask? Well thanks to the wonderful people who upload SWAC episodes the week before they air, I watched "Sonny: So Far," which is the season one finale of the show, today, and MAN it is a good episode. YouTube "Sonny So Far" and search for today's results. Whatever you do be SURE to watch part 3, because if you are Channy fan, you may just fall apart. LOL. In light of watching that episode, I bring you a little one-shot. Because let's be honest: the producers and writers practically begged for fanfiction after that episode.**

**WATCH BEFORE YOU READ. Or else you WILL be spoiled and since I am still sick, I would appreciate only nice comments and not flames. ;) **

_Disclaimer: I do not own SWAC. If I did, this episode would have…well, who am I kidding? I would have teased the crap out of viewers just like they did. ;)_

_Spoilers: Spoilers for "Sonny: So Far" are included. Please, oh, please, do not read if you don't want to be spoiled. I won't be offended, I promise._

* * *

The Middle

Tawni Hart knew that you should never read a book starting from the middle. It was pertinent to understanding the book in its entirety that you read from beginning to end. Of course, Tawni Hart did not usually read books, so she really could have cared less. This thought – the one about books, that is – only occurred to her as Gilroy's mouth flapped open, pointing to the television in front of him in which he was trying to decipher Sonny and Chad's conversation by just viewing the tail end of it. He, and Tawni for that matter, had absolutely no idea what had transpired between Chad and Sonny during the moments when the bubbly blonde had yanked the remote away from the television host. You just couldn't pick up a conversation in the middle. Especially not one as important as the one that Sonny and Chad were having.

Gilroy's face appeared to be in a permanent frown as the cameraman rolled to another commercial break. He turned to Tawni and scowled.

"What did you do that for? Aren't you the least bit curious?"

Tawni shrugged her shoulders. It was true – she _was _curious. Up until that point in time, she hadn't even really thought of the possibility that there had been anything going on between Chad and Sonny other than the obvious love-hate rivalry. Although, she did notice how when Chad had guest starred, Sonny seemed nervous when it came to kissing him. She had theorized that it was – much as Sonny tried to deny it – because the brunette did, indeed, want to kiss Chad.

"Look, Gilroy, people have personal lives," Tawni explained. "We're not just celebrities who pose in front of the cameras and go on talk shows. We're _real _people. And Sonny deserves some privacy, okay?"

Gilroy's eyes narrowed for a moment but he studied her with skepticism. "And you actually care for Sonny Monroe?"

The corners of Tawni's mouth turned upward in a momentary smile. "Yes," she explained, before quickly regaining her diva composure and pointing her pencil at him threateningly. "so stay out of her business!"

She didn't need to tell him twice.

* * *

Sonny Monroe had grabbed Chad by the wrist and dragged him backstage, mortified that Gilroy had taken a clip of the two of them out of context. How could anyone think that she and Chad were…that they…that she…?

The brunette groaned in frustration. Why was it so hard to even think about _other _people thinking that she liked Chad? As the girl tried to decode what she just thought, the guy in question looked at her puzzled.

"Sonny?" he asked, waving his hand in front of her face.

"Wha…oh, right," the brunette floundered. For some reason, she couldn't get the expression that Chad had on his face when she told Gilroy that she would discuss their relationship. His wide blue eyes had been, for lack of a better word, terrified.

"Look, Tawni and I made a pact earlier that we wouldn't tell anyone's secrets, and I think we should probably do the same thing," she said in a diplomatic voice.

Chad looked at her for a moment before admitting: "Okay, fine, I didn't read the book!" he confessed.

Sonny looked at him with confusion, and it dawned on Chad that his book-reading, or lack thereof, was not what she was referring to. "Oh," he continued with realization, "you're talking about between us." He laughed as Sonny nodded. "We don't have secrets," he explained. He caught himself. What if there was something that she wanted to tell him? "…do we?" he asked quickly.

The brunette's eyes grew wide and she looked at him unsurely. "I…don't know. Do we?" she asked.

It may have been a secret between them, but it had been no secret to the entire cast of _So Random!_ or even the cast of _Mackenzie Falls_. Before Sonny Monroe had arrived in Hollywood, Chad had been an egotistical, three-named one-man show. And once Sonny had arrived…well, he was still all of those things, but there was something different – he was _trying _to be better.

Before Sonny, Chad had never really attempted to better himself. After all, he was a pretty astounding individual already! But there was something about the sweet charisma of Sonny that really softened him. Perhaps it was the way she was always such an optimist, or the fact that he rarely ever saw her frowning. Maybe it was the way she was able to lead others and take charge, or the adorable messes she often got herself into.

Whatever it was, Portlyn was certain that Chad and Sonny needed to get their feelings sorted out. That was why she had taken the initiative of sending a clip into Gilroy of the two of them. She, like Sonny and Tawni, however, didn't fully comprehend Gilroy's idea of a "talk show." And she was pretty sure that if either of the pair ever found out that she sent in the tape, she would be deader than a piece of road kill.

Currently, Chad was feeling something he was not used to feeling – nervousness. "Uh, what kind of secrets do you mean? Because we don't have any personal secrets…between us…secrets?" he choked out. Why did the word 'secret' suddenly sound so strange and intimidating?

To his relief, Sonny seemed just as anxious as he was. "What kind of secrets?" she asked hesitantly. "I mean, wait a second…like us liking each other?"

"Yeah, I mean…I don't really wanna talk about my feelings in front of a live studio audience," he explained, voice growing slightly higher in pitch. _Is it getting warmer in here?_ Chad thought, uncomfortably stuttering as Sonny continued.

"Yeah, yeah, right," Sonny said hurriedly, "especially feelings we've never talked about before…"

"Yeah," the blonde heartthrob said slowly. _Wait, did she just say what I think she said?_ "Wait," he said quickly, looking at Sonny. "…you have feelings?"

Her chocolate eyes grew wide and she looked up at him. "Do…you have feelings?"

The pair stood in awkwardness for only a moment, but it seemed like an eternity to Chad as his stomach was doing an acrobatic routine that would make an Olympic team jealous. Suddenly, he seemed to forget how to breathe. In his mind, he never pictured confessing his feelings to Sonny backstage at some television interview. Possibly a romantic picnic under the stars, or at least something classier…like dinner. He hadn't even rehearsed what he would say to her when the moment arrived. He figured that if it was the right moment, and the right girl, the words would just come naturally to him. He should have known better – that only happened in chick flicks.

As he stood, he looked at Sonny honestly and found his words stumbling out of his mouth. "Well…since you're really asking…and it's the two of us…"

"Right," Sonny interrupted, nervous herself, "and there's like, no cameras this time…" She looked at Chad sincerely, and noticed that, despite his lack of being able to form a proper sentence, he was smiling, actually _smiling_ at her.

The blonde took a deep breath. It was now or never. "I really…it's just…"

"No, listen," Sonny interrupted, a genuine smile on her face and compassion in her deep chocolate eyes, "it's what I'm here for."

It was that statement that catapulted Chad into his decision. He was going to tell her. How could he not, when everything about her was so genuine and sincere? As he looked into her eyes, he knew, he just _knew_. And so, he breathed and looked at her with a smile and perfect adoration.

"You go first," Sonny insisted, shuffling her feet.

"No, you go first," Chad countered.

"You go…" Sonny stopped herself before she realized that she was arguing in a circle. That tended to happen a lot whenever Chad was involved. So, she took a breath and stopped herself. "Well, okay…same time?"

"Yeah," the blonde said, shoving his hands into his pocket nervously. Suddenly, the thought struck him – what if Sonny wasn't going to say what he thought she would? What if he told her that he had feelings for her and she didn't reciprocate? Chad Dylan Cooper had never been rejected before, and he didn't want to start now. The thought nearly caused him to back out, to run out of the studio and forget that their almost-"determining the relationship" had even happened.

But looking at Sonny, he knew he couldn't do that. He would have to face the outcome of the conversation, whatever that may be.

"One," Sonny counted with an awkward laugh and smile. Was this really happening? What was she doing? Hadn't Chad Dylan Cooper been, for the most part, the bane of her very existence for the past few months she had been in Los Angeles? Was she actually going to confess to him that she cared about him as more than a…more than a…well, what was he exactly? A friend? A foe? A frenemy? Frenemy sounded appropriate. She would go with that.

Suddenly, Sonny seemed to realize where she was and that she was counting…and that Chad was not. The normally composed and collected drama star was staring at her blankly, but she noticed how his chest was suddenly rising and falling much quicker than usual.

"Two?" she continued, looking at Chad encouragingly.

Chad laughed nervously. "Yeah, I was gonna say that," he assured her quickly. "Um, two and a half?"

"We can do that?" Sonny asked with a little giggle.

Chad laughed as well and bit his lip, bracing himself for the next half a second that would determine the rest of their relationship. "Three?" he offered, closing his eyes momentarily, as both he and Sonny spoke.

"I like you."

Chad peeked and realized that Sonny had been closing her eyes as well. The brunette opened her eyes fully and smiled the brightest smile Chad had ever seen. All of the nervousness that the blonde young man had felt seemed to evaporate as he breathed: "Thank God."

"I thought you were…"

"No, I thought you were going to say…"

The pair stood and smiled at one another, giddy in their revelations. "Wow," Sonny breathed with small shake of her head. "So what now?"

Chad tilted his head to the side slightly as he studied the beautiful young woman before him. "How about dinner tomorrow night?" he asked, blue eyes twinkling with happiness.

Sonny laughed and sighed with relief, nodding her head energetically. She seemed aware of perhaps how absurd that looked, as Chad was beginning to chuckle, and blushed. The two stared at one another without speaking for another moment. Instead, they just smiled.

"That was so much easier to say than I thought it would be," she admitted.

Chad continued to beam and touched a hand to the small of her back, gently pushing her back toward Gilroy and Tawni. He watched her go for a moment, in awe of how easy it had been to tell her how he felt. With a slight shake of his head, he followed her, feeling much lighter inside.

* * *

It was the moment that Tawni Hart watched Sonny start counting down that she knew – she knew Sonny and Chad were about to admit their feelings for one another. She couldn't help but sit in Gilroy's chair and be flabbergasted though. Admitting you had feelings for someone was difficult in and of itself, but to be filmed on national television was cruel and unusual torture. It wasn't even that she really liked Chad. He was, after all, one of the most vain, selfish human beings to ever walk the face of the earth.

But when she caught him looking at Sonny, she spotted something that she had never seen in the eyes of Chad Dylan Cooper before – she noticed genuine care and love. It was then that she realized with horror that in the next moment their private confessions would go public for the entire world to watch and download.

And the selflessness inside of Tawni could not let that happen. So she grabbed the remote and clicked the television off, much to the indignant cries of Gilroy.

But Tawni felt something, a stirring of sorts within her heart. It felt like a warm bath had flooded her insides and was now trickling happiness. For the first time, Tawni had done something genuinely compassionate and meant it.

* * *

"So how was the television show?"

Sonny kicked her shoes off at the threshold of her apartment and looked at the couch where her mother was sitting munching on popcorn. The brunette's permanent smile seemed to radiate the room as she navigated her way to the couch and plopped down.

"It didn't go so well at first," Sonny explained, grabbing a handful of popcorn from the bowl.

"Oh really?" Connie asked, eyebrows raised in confusion. "Why's that?"

"Well," the daughter explained through bites, "as it turns out, Gilroy really just wanted me and Tawni to confess embarrassing secrets about one another and our cast mates."

Connie frowned. "Sounds more like sleaze journalism than a television show," she remarked.

Sonny shrugged. "True, but it ended up being a great show," she concluded with a secretive smile.

"I know that smile," Connie said with a twinkle in her eyes, "and if this means what I think it means, then I'm extremely happy for you."

Her daughter frowned in confusion. "Wait, what do you think it means?"

Like a little schoolgirl with a secret, Sonny's mother leaned over and whispered something in her daughter's ear to which the daughter bobbed her head enthusiastically.

That night, the Monroe apartment was full of excited, albeit, girly squeals of joy.

* * *

**Oh man, I am so in love with this episode. I can't wait for season two to air soon. I assume it will be in this season that we have some more good Sonny/Chad moments. According to a group on Livejournal, one of the girls went to the first live taping of season two and said that there are some moments. ;)**

**Anyway, if you haven't been checking out my multi-chapter fic for **PrettyKittyKat23's **challenge, I am going to promote it now. It's called "The List," and as those who are avid readers know, we are on our second-to-last chapter. I'll update (hopefully) this week to give you all the conclusion!**

**Again, thanks everyone for reading and please review and let me know what you thought of the episode and of course of the fic. ;) **


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